Ref.

Ares(2018)4023840 - 30/07/2018
CECILIA MALMSTIRÖM
MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

3 0. 0/. 2018
Brussels,
IM/is Ares(2018)

Dear Minister Valencia,

The comprehensive Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Peru and
Colombia has recently celebrated five years of application. This Agreement has had a
beneficial impact on the economies of Peru and the EU. In Peru, it had notably a
stabilising effect in the context of declining commodity prices and also contributed to the
diversification of exports, in particular in favour of agricultural products and small and
medium size enterprises.

However, the Peru-EU Trade Agreement aims for more than promoting trade and
investment. It is our shared objective to ensure that the increased economic activity
contributes to sustainable development, including its social and environmental
dimensions. This is why we agreed to incorporate in this Agreement a dedicated Trade
and Sustainable Development (TSD) Title with legally binding commitments. Delivering
on these commitments is as important as delivering on other provisions of the
Agreement.

In this context, you are certainly aware of the EU's concerns on whether Peru has made
sufficient progress in implementing the TSD Title. This is framed by a broader political
demand in the EU to be more effective and assertive in implementing the TSD
commitments reflecting the spirit of our trade policy, which puts values such as high
social and environmental standards at its core.

One of the issues on which we believe there is room for improvement is the consultation
of domestic civil society on TSD matters. Peru has chosen to use existing domestic
mechanisms for this purpose. However, we have no clear indication of the composition
of these groups, the frequency of their meetings or indeed if they have discussed the
implementation of this Title. My services signalled this issue to Peruvian authorities on
many occasions, including during the last TSD Sub-committee and Trade Committee in
November 2017 in Lima. This concern has also been raised in a report submitted to the
European Commission in October 2017 by civil society organisations, many of them
based in Peru. The EU civil society groups have no clear counterpart on the Peru side.
This hinders an effective dialogue between both domestic groups on TSD maters, as
foreseen in the TSD Title.

We also have serious concerns about the effective implementation of the TSD Title in
Peru both with regard to the labour and the environmental provisions. We are particularly
worried about the shortcomings in the effective implementation of the fundamental ILO

Rogers Valencia
Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism
Republic of Peru
B-1049 BRUSSELS - TEL. (+32-2) 298 63 66 - FAX (+32-2) 297 68 94
Conventions 87 and 98, on freedom of association and protection of the rights to
organize and collective bargaining, which remain unaddressed despite ILO's Committee
of Experts recommendations. Furthermore, Peru has one of the highest levels of
informality in the labour market and the persistent high level of child labour remains a
high concern. All these issues have been the focus of discussions in the TSD Sub­
committee over the past five years and still more efforts are needed tor substantial
progress to be achieved.

On environmental protection, as discussed last November in Lima, the simplification of

administrative procedures on environmental matters should not lead to a lowering of the
level of environmental protection. The latter would not be in compliance with the TSD
provisions.

I remain optimistic that a constructive engagement will result in improvements in the

above mentioned areas of concern and positive deliverables can be agreed at the
upcoming Trade Committee meeting. However, in the absence of sufficient progress, we
will consider using existing mechanisms, including the enforcement procedure, under
the Trade Agreement to address the problems identified.

In preparation of the 5th round of meetings of the TSD Sub-committee and of the Trade
Committee later this year in Quito, you will find in annex to this letter a list of issues that
we expect to be addressed by Peru via a well-defined and time-bound action plan. If such
action plan were shared with the European Commission ahead of the TSD Sub­
committee, it would demonstrate political commitment on Peru's side and would enable
the EU to assess how the substantive concerns have been addressed.

To this end I will also ask my services to organise a fact-finding mission to Lima in
autumn to further discuss EU concerns with the authorities and with the civil society. I
count on your support to facilitate this mission and the subsequent discussions.

I trust that you will agree with me on the importance of ensuring the effective
implementation of the TSD commitments in our Trade Agreement. This is a process that
requires continuous joint efforts, strong political commitment and decisive action.
Having said this, I'm looking forward to your constructive response and to working with
you on the concerns so important for our citizens.

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ANNEX
To improve the effective implementation of its commitments under the Trade and
Sustainable Development Title of the Peru-EU Trade Agreement it is important that
Peru:

- Ensures that the consecutive use of fixed-term employment contracts does not
constitute an obstacle for workers to join trade unions and does not contribute
to discrimination of trade union activists, notably by reviewing the Act on
Promotion of Non-Traditional Exports. This would allow addressing the observation
made in 2015 by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions
and Recommendations (CEACR) on the application by Peru of the ILO Convention
98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining concerning workers with fixed-
term contracts in the private sector. The ILO pointed out that in Peru workers with
fixed-term contracts were especially vulnerable to discriminatory non-renewal of
their contracts, and that the routine use of this contractual modality enabled
employers to prevent their workers from joining a trade union. The CEACR also took
note that this issue had been the subject of several cases before the ILO Committee
on Freedom of Association and requested Peru to engage in dialogue with the social
partners.

- Takes effective steps to reduce informality in the labour market notably by

strengthening further the labour inspection system to ensure the effective
implementation of the fundamental ILO Conventions throughout the country for all
workers, by: (i) increasing its coverage and centralising its authority; and (ii)
increasing the financial and human capital investment.

- Combats forced labour and continues to strive to progressively eliminate child

labour, by establishing a robust legislative and institutional framework for
combating trafficking in persons and taking all the necessary steps to effectively
implement its national policy against trafficking in persons and related forms of
exploitation, and ensuring that the Unit for Combating Forced and Child Labour
(GEIT) has adequate human and material resources to be able to cover the whole of
the national territory. This would address the 2017 observation by the CEACR of the
ILO on the application of ILO Convention 29 on Forced Labour.

- Strengthens efforts to improve social dialogue in the country, including by: (i)
improving the functioning of the National Labour Council (CNTPE) by resolving the
circumstances which are obstructing its functioning, and ensuring that tripartite
consultations are held effectively; and (ii) supporting the capacities of trade unions
and employers engaged in social dialogue.

- Engages further with the EU and the ILO on the implementation of the
international labour standards, including through regular follow-up on the progress
made.

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 Ensures that relevant laws and implementing acts in particular in the area of
environmental impact assessment and regulating industrial activities in different
sectors do not lead to an effective reduction of environmental protection. For this
Peru must also ensure appropriate institutional capacity and legal transparency.

Strengthens its public consultation mechanisms by reassessing the need to set up a

domestic advisory group to discuss issues related to the TSD Title of the Trade
Agreement with the EU. This would ensure that the impact of policies relevant to the
functioning of the Trade Agreement on environment and labour standards would be
discussed in a transparent manner.

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Electronically signed on 26/07/2018 16:05 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563